The Betrayal Revsed Chapter 24 snippet

Looking up from his glass, Kosloski found the bottle of bourbon before him to be less interesting. He watched the young woman bee-lining for his table, and he smiled. Drinking another shot, he poured himself another one while watching her.

So there she is, he thought as he downed that shot too. ‘The Banshee.’ Not quite to intimidating in person if I do say so!

Even in the dim lighting, he gave high marks to her tailor. The skintight black and silver jumpsuit matched her hair color. Smiling as he felt familiar warmth grow in his loins, he watched the way it clung to her body as she moved. If he hadn’t know she was a Special Ops Agent, he mused, then he would’ve tried to get into her pants.

She looks a hell of a lot more like a smuggler then do most smugglers, he thought, noting the long black leather trench coat she wore.

He intentionally chose not to acknowledge her when she reached him. Pouring himself another drink, he knocked it back while she watched. She had come to see him, he mused, so she could speak first. That code had kept him alive with the smugglers, so why change?

Nice blue eyes, he thought as he poured another glass.

“Mr. Kosloski,” she spoke in a husky, smoky voice that struck him right in the groin. “I believe you were expecting me.”

“Have a seat, Captain?” he asked as he shifted himself in his seat to hide his growing arousal.

“I wouldn’t say that too loud,” she said to him as she sat down across from him. Both of his eyebrows rose as he noticed her hand in her coat pocket.

Smart girl, he thought as he took note of her keeping a hand on her weapon.

“What would you prefer I call you?”

“Kate would be fine,” she said as she motioned for a drink.

“So,” he said as he laid both hands on the table to show her he wasn’t holding his weapon. “Something must be really important if they sent you all the way out to the ass end of space.”

“You could say so,” she said as she ordered a triple-shot of bourbon. How someone as small as her could hold that liquor, he wondered, beat the hell out of him!

A shiver ran up Kosloski’s spine, as he looked his visitor over closely. The first thing he noticed about her was the penetrating stare she owned. Looking into those eyes, he realized, was like staring into the eyes of a man-eating tiger. The shiver turned into a shudder as he noted the smoldering fire raging behind her eyes, a sense of violence that was never fully under control, but reigned in enough to keep her on the right side of the law.

This is a deadly woman, he told herself as he forced his face to stay unreadable. I need to keep that in mind if I’m going to pull this deal off!

If that wasn’t enough, he mused; her long, nearly mid-back length raven-colored hair added to the mystique that was Kate Almir. Pulled back into a loose ponytail, with bangs on both sides of her face, it gave her the appearance of being able to handle anything thrown her way. When that was combined with her wide, expressive eyes, she looked deathly intimidating to most people.

Which was almost patently absurd, he thought as he fought back a chuckle. However, after the job she completed on Ireland, I doubt anyone would think anything was beyond her abilities to deal with.

“I understand you saw a vessel while out on a smuggling run,” she said as she downed a second drink.

If she isn’t careful, he thought. She’s going to drink herself onto the floor!

“Yes, I did,” he said. “It was when I was out at…”

###

The noise and the darkness of the club would disguise the sound of her silenced pistol perfectly, Channon mused as she cradled it in her hands. Just like the murky ambiance had allowed her to have the pistol in the open, it would work to her favor again. Two for the price of one, she thought with a smile that would certainly be enough for them to promote her!

While Kosloski’s choice of seat wasn’t surprising to her, he had been sitting there every damned time he was in the club Almir’s had really surprised her. With her back turned to Channon, only a mirror allowed her to see what was happening behind her. For someone with the reputation of Almir, she mused, that was a critical mistake to make.

And one I intend to make you pay for with your life, she thought as she pulled the slide back on the pistol to chamber a round.

###

Listening to Kosloski’s story was dull and boring, Kate mused as she lifted her eyes up. She rubbed her forehead as she looked at herself in the mirror across from her. The constant stress of the last several days were starting to take it’s toll, she noted as she could see the lines forming around her eyes.

If I’m not careful I’m going to make myself look a lot older, she thought as she turned her attention back to Kosloski.

In the mirror, something glinted in the dim light, catching her attention. Raising an eyebrow, she switched her eye to dim light mode to see what it was. In this dim of a lighting, she reminded herself, nothing other then a weapon would make any kind of glint…

###

Channon aimed at Kosloski, the pistol now as part of her body. She would shoot him first, she told herself, and then shoot Almir second. While Almir would be the harder target to kill, if she killed Kosloski first it was liable to stun her into inaction just long enough to allow Channon to shoot her.

Goodbye Almir, she thought as she pulled the trigger.

###

The blood went cold in her veins and she felt her breath hitch in her chest. Gun, she told herself as she recognized the weapon in the blonde haired woman’s hand. How stupid could she have been to not keep an eye on where she had gone?

I can’t believe I was this goddamned stupid! Kate raged as she reached out with a hand to grab Kosloski’s shirt.

“Gun!” she yelled as she pulled them both the floor, praying to God she wasn’t too late…